Tiring work day - Hunger

June 15th, 2017

The first job was clear. Separate the concrete gravel on the first floor of the new building from the garbage, carry it up and deposit it there cleanly. Organize everything myself, as discussed with Marco yesterday. I'm sure he's glad that anything that can be done without his involvement is taken care of, because he's got enough on his plate. He already told me on Saturday that there will probably be 24/7 work weeks until his vacation starts on July 7th, because the construction should be finished by then. But there's also all the other work to be done, so...

On the way to the foundation, I disposed of the garbage bag that was created from the learned buckets. I didn't like the fact that the toilet bucket was full. I wanted it empty again, because my digestion was acting up again. It's the same with the toilet in this house, the small pieces of paper used for cleaning the behind can't be thrown in the toilet. They have to be disposed of in a bucket next to the toilet. Rosa explained this to me before the trip and back then I thought it must smell awful in the bathroom. But it doesn't.

That's why I went alone to the foundation today. Laura arrived a bit later, despite my detour. She seemed a little sick, hardly said a word and appeared tired. That's why I didn't mind doing the physical work of carrying the buckets myself. She was better off inside the house.

After a little over an hour, Milton helped me with my work and shortly after, Marco explained that the remaining usable gravel in the construction should be distributed over two floors so that a drain pipe can still be poured. That saved me some climbs and I was very grateful for it. Milton had to leave then, to buy gas bottles, and I finished the rest alone. Carrying the construction debris down in buckets and dumping them in a pile for disposal, as well as covering the pile of concrete gravel transported upstairs, with plastic and a corrugated metal roof. I was done with it by lunchtime and the work satisfied me completely, because I thought it would take longer.

After lunch, only had a soup, I was available in the room for the older kids to help with their homework. I was able to help a boy with an English assignment. It was good because he thought along and wanted to do the work himself. There are children who ask and then they want the answer without studying themselves.

Today, the children in general were more diligent than yesterday. Some had to do a project on a poster. It was about healthy eating. They worked very neatly on it. At one table, two girls sat next to each other, who apparently attended the same class, at least they had the same homework. Writing decimal numbers in sequence, once from top to bottom in order of size and then the same ones from bottom to top. One of the girls started and easily finished the task, something within five minutes. The other girl - forgive me, but I don't know their names yet and I don't want to say them, especially when something negative comes up - showed no interest in the task at all. Either she didn't understand it or she was simply too lazy. When I passed by next time, the first girl had copied her solutions into the other girl's notebook. My observations so far are that the range is huge.

I was really looking forward to the end of the work today. I was tired and a bit hungry and would have loved to have a proper cooked meal today. Laura had driven off with friends. 4 days in the Selva region in northern Ecuador. She was feeling better in the evening. Diana wasn't there yet or resting in her room, just like yesterday. So I had to prepare something for myself and that suited me, because I could cook rice and start a three-day diet. However, pure rice seemed a bit bland to me, so at the end of cooking the rice, I added some tomatoes, let it simmer again for a while, and added a dash of pepperoncini sauce and a larger amount of balsamic vinegar. It tasted good, I would have liked to eat more of it. But I have to hold back and not eat much, so that my stomach can settle down. After that, I made and drank a pot of chamomile tea with honey. I hope it will be back to normal and I can start eating again on Monday. Since I returned from the Selva region, my appetite has also increased. Maybe it's the altitude. I live and work here at 3100 meters above sea level.